We’ve been mostly staying below as the smugglers carried us south to avoid being spotted by any of our enemies. But that’s much less likely on the waterways than on the road, and now that we’re in the more remote reaches of Trova, we’re lucky if we pass a couple of people a day. It seemed worth the risk to get some fresh air here and there.
“We should be,”I reply across the mooring.“I’ll go check with the captain in a moment.”
“You’re thinking about them, aren’t you,”she says—a statement rather than a question. I glance at her.
“Yes. I feel strangely connected to them here. Particularly my father. He came here with a mission he gave his life for. It feels…right, somehow, that I should visit it with an important task too.”
“He’d be proud of you,”she says, laying a hand on my arm. The simple statement hits me harder than I expected. I have to look out across the water to steady myself. Ana slips her hand into mine, helping me.
“I hope so,”I reply honestly.
I spent many years thinking of my father as never quite strong enough to do what was necessary—to stand up to Respen. I felt frustrated with him more times than I could count and crafted my own persona as a warrior—as someone who would fight any problem head-on—in direct contrast to him. It’s only now that I see how wise he was, how careful and deliberate in his defiance. He knew how dangerous Respen was, and he was playing the only game he could.
I climb up toward the wheelhouse, where Ravesley stands with one of his crew, Moss.
“What’s our progress?” I ask.
Ravesley grunts, considering my question.
The smugglers have transported us before when we needed to get somewhere quickly, but things are different this time. When we first boarded the boat, Ravesley told us the smugglers have been forced to abandon a lot of their old business thanks to the Temple’s new interest in Hallowbane. We had to pay them three times the usual price to convince them to take on the risk of carrying us south.
Even now, I don’t miss the wary look passing between the captain and Moss. They’re eager to be done with this job, or at least get us off the boat until we need carrying north again.
“A few more hours should do it,” Ravesley answers. “You best start preparing what you need.”
By the time we’re disembarking from the riverboat, I’m glad to be away. The nervousness of the crew was starting to grate on me, and the quiet, empty hills of Rhasborne are a welcome change. We travel as a much smaller group than the one that left Filusia.
Wadestaff somehow convinced Damia to take him to Godom, and Alastor has gone east to Elmere with Harman. Meanwhile, Mal offered to escort Lafia back to the Hand’s base at Tread rather than come further south with us. The ex-cleric is smart as a whip and helped save my life, but she’s still so young. I don’t think any of us want to take her on more dangerous missions if we can avoid it.
It leaves three of my soldiers with Ana and me—Stratton, Phaia, and Hyllus—as well as Tira. As we start to follow the riverbank up into the hills, Stratton squints at the green landscape.
“I thought this was supposed to be wine country?”
“It is,” Ana says. “But this close to the Siga’s source, the ground is too damp for vines. Most of the vineyards are in the valleys further downriver.”
“We missed them because we were busy hiding below deck,” Phaia points out to the blond.
“You don’t need to remindme,” Stratton says. “I was crammed into a cabin with Hyllus for days. I’m not likely to forget it. No offense, friend.”
Hyllus just shrugs. “It’s not my fault you didn’t have the good sense to grow as big as me.”
The rare joke from my quiet friend makes the group laugh, wiping away some of the tension we picked up from Ravesley’s crew.
The river narrows as the hills grow steeper, a sure sign we’re getting closer to the source. After a morning hiking, we hear the rushing sound of fast-moving water.
“That’s got to be it,”Ana tells me excitedly.“Siga’s falling tears.”
After scouring dozens of maps, we found a likely spot for the waterfall among some particularly steep hills near the river’s source. But there was still a possibility we’d get here and find no waterfall at all, or find out we’ve gravely misinterpreted the prophecy, and it has nothing to do with my father or the seal.
Hearing the water at least feels like a hint that we’re on the right path.
As we reach the dip between the hills where the river opens out into a small lake, my confidence only grows. Grassy banks shelter a tall waterfall, the sparkling river cresting over the top of the hills and tumbling down into a misty haze on the far side of the lake.
I close my eyes, imagining my parents here, their feet upon this same soft ground, the same rushing waters echoing in their ears. For a moment, I’m overwhelmed with longing and sadness. But then?—
“Leon?”Ana calls to me. As always, she’s my anchor to everything that’s real and present, pulling me out of my thoughts of the past and my yearning for a sense of connection to those who are long dead.
“I’m alright,”I reply.
